Failure of the Croatian Higher Education Reform

Zoran Kurelić

Siniša Rodin

Abstract

The authors analyse the reasons for Croatian higher education reform since 2003, as well as its consequences. The main proposition of the paper is that the implementation of the Bologna Process in Croatia has failed due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the goals of the process, a lack of correspondence between the cycles of higher education and the EuropeanQualifications Framework, and a lack of international pressure, resulting from the nature of the open method of coordination. The authors present the internal market rules of the European Union and how they affect the national regulation of higher education. The paper deals with the main characteristics of the higher education reform and how it has affected thestructure of higher education programmes, the comparability of degrees and qualifications, and student mobility. The authors propose an agenda for a “reform of the reform” that could bring the Croatian system of higher education back onto the European track.

References

Barnard, C. (2010). The Substantive Law of the EU, 3rd ed. Oxford: OUP.

Davies, H. (2009). Survey of Master Degrees in Europe. European University Association.

Garben, S. (2010). The Bologna process and the Lisbon Strategy: Commercialisation through the Back Door. Croatian Yearbook of European Law & Policy, 6, 167-208.

In order to ensure both the widest dissemination and protection of material published in CEPS Journal, we ask Authors to transfer to the Publisher (Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana) the rights of copyright in the Articles they contribute. This enables the Publisher to ensure protection against infringement.